


whatever he wants

by Areiton



Series: in the cold, we find warmth [6]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Domestic Fluff, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark Friendship, James "Rhodey" Rhodes is a Good Bro, M/M, Protective Bucky Barnes, Protective Tony Stark, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-30
Updated: 2019-07-30
Packaged: 2020-07-27 13:40:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20046946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Areiton/pseuds/Areiton
Summary: It occurs to him, right around the time Rhodey pushes the door open and Jamie steps, barefoot and barechested, out of the bathroom, that maybe this was a bad idea.





	whatever he wants

Tony takes Jamie to Rhodey’s house, the small and comfortable little house he bought outside of Edwards he’s been staying in while in California.

It occurs to him, right around the time Rhodey pushes the door open and Jamie steps, barefoot and barechested, out of the bathroom, that maybe this was a bad idea.

He shoves between them, back to Rhodey, hands splayed and eyes wide as Jamie pulls a knife from nowhere, “He’s a friend!”

There’s a beat of tense silence, before Jamie flips the knife and it vanishes away on his person and Rhodey sighs. “We talked about you letting me know when you’re bringing home friends, Tones.” 

~*~

Jamie is quiet but not quite as haunted as he had been in Moscow. The shadows under his eyes have lightened, to almost something normal. He’s too thin, and Tony watches him as Rhodey cooks, watches him while they eat.

This is familiar. Watching Jamie is familiar.

What isn’t is the way those expressive storm cloud eyes find him. The way Jamie watches him back, and the patient hunger there.

He blinks and looks away and catches the tiny curl of his lips, pleased, when he fumbles for his wine.

~*~

“You didn’t tell me you were in love with him,” Rhodey says.

Tony looks at him, eyes wide and Rhodey huffs. “You didn’t know.”

“I knew—I haven’t seen him in months. And even when I did—it was never like that. It was friendship, trying to _help_ him.”

“Tones we’ve been friends for over twenty years—and that is not how you look at your friends. We’d probably have fucked in college, if it was.”

Tony doesn’t make the joke.

He stares at the doorway, where he knows Jamie is doing a check of the grounds and he says, soft and lost, “What do I do?”

~*~

“You’re nervous,” Jamie says, when Tony leads him into the guest room. “Because of me.”

“It’s not because of you,” Tony says, quickly and Jamie’s expression twists a little. “It’s not because I’m scared of you,” Tony amends.

He watches Tony, quiet, patient, and Tony says, “I want you to be happy, Jamie. Happy and safe. Whatever that looks like.”

Jamie’s eyes widen, and Tony takes a step back. Smiles and says, “If you need anything, let me know.”

He gets half a step away and a hand—flesh, warm, gentle—closes around his, holds him still. “Whatever I want?”

Tony licks his lips, and stares and he nods. Slowly.

“Stay,” Jamie says, and pulls him close.

~*~

They curl together, warm and twisted bodies under Rhodey’s mama’s quilt, a metal arm wrapped around his torso to hold him close, and the steady breathing of Jamie brushing against his neck.

He doesn’t sleep. He doesn’t want to sleep, doesn’t want a single second of this to be wasted to sleep.

“Why did you come?”

The question drifts into the darkness around two am and Jamie twitches against his back. “You were in danger.”

He squirms around in Jamie’s arms, twisting until he’s staring at storm grey eyes. “I was never really in danger.”

“You were in danger,” he says, patient and steady, like it is that simple—Tony was in danger and that alone was enough to drag him in out of the cold.

He says, trembling, “I’m not, now.”

Jamie is quiet, and a metal thumb comes up, brushes against his lip, presses against the plush give of it. “Whatever I want?”

Tony thinks, maybe, he’ll regret that, but it’s not enough to stop him from saying, “Whatever you want.”

“I want to stay. Here, or in New York, or wherever you are. I want to stay. I want to know you’re safe.”

The arms holding him tighten, just a little, and he blames the breathless tremble in his voice on that. “What about Steve?”

Jamie’s arms tighten, and he says, into Tony’s hair, “Not yet. I’m not ready for that yet.”

“Then we wait,” he says, and he knows—Jamie knows—it’s not that simple. That it won’t be simple. But for the moment, it is. For the moment, he is safe and sheltered in Jamie’s arms and it’s what, amazingly, they both want.

“Sleep, sweetheart,” Jamie murmurs, “we’ll both be here in the morning.”

He trusts that and the safety he’s held in and he closes his eyes and sleeps. 


End file.
